Award details

BBSRC-funded studentship: Investigating primary and secondary B cell responses in cattle after immunisation with existing and novel vaccines

Reference	BBS/E/I/00001464
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Bryan Charleston
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	The Pirbright Institute
Department	The Pirbright Institute Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	123,807
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/10/2009
End date	30/09/2013
Duration	48 months

Abstract

Vaccination is one of the major tools used to control infectious diseases of animals and man. For a number of pathogens, pre-existing circulating antibody levels represent a major correlate of protection from infection and disease. Understanding the mechanisms of antibody persistence after vaccination will lead to more rational choices of vaccine formulations and schedules to provide more sustained protection. We have recently developed assays to describe a comprehensive picture of the appearance, in the blood stream, of Ag-specific plasma cells and memory B cells in cattle using ovalbumin as a model antigen. Further unpublished work using the same assays to investigate the profile of B cell responses after immunisation with T dependent and T independent antigens, revealed a robust memory B cell response is only detected after immunisation with T dependent antigens. The use of these assays will be extended to assess B cell responses to existing and novel vaccines. We will test the hypothesis that driving memory B cell and plasma cell responses results in prolonged protective humoral responses. Samples from cattle immunised with commercially available cattle vaccines, which are predicted to stimulate protective immune responses of different duration, for example, tetanus toxoid, bovine viral diarrhoea virus and Foot-and-Mouth disease virus, will be analysed. The magnitude and timing of the B cell responses will be measured and related to the magnitude of the isotype specific antibody responses. The hypothesis will be further tested by making modifications, to vaccine antigen, which are predicted to target antigen presenting cells. The immune responses in cattle after the administration of native and modified antigen will be analysed. This project will be integrated with related, externally funded, programmes of work at IAH and so provide a supportive environment to develop a comprehensive, broadly applicable understanding of immunology and vaccine development.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Animal Health, Immunology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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